1. roof rack scratches
2. ability to lift bike
3. cost of roof rack is slightly less
4. hitch racks decrease clearance (hidden hitch) and are heavier in many cases
5. hitch rack is easier to load
6. roof rack is major downer on gas mileage

If you are considering a hanging rack versus a roof rack, get the roof rack.

Hitch mount with rack that supports bike by the wheels - no contest. That's the only kind I'll use anymore - no frame damage, no wheel removal, easier to lift, cleaner bike b/c it's out of the air flow, etc etc. I like the Thule. If you ever get into MTBing, no risk fussing with disc brake caliper interference with the fork clamp, blah blah blah.

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Cyclist turned multisport enthusiast. Human performance technologist and digital health expert in my day job.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karletzel/
https://www.strava.com/athletes/karletzel

We have the xsport hitch rack for two bikes and absolutely love it. Easy to use, don't have bikes hanging loose/swinging and don't have to lift the bikes.

Easy to decide.

1. take an online IQ test
2. If you can't find and online IQ test, fail the test etc, then buy a roof rack
3. If you find an online test, buy a tow hitch rack

There are two types of roof rack owners. Those that have driventheir bikes off the roof, and those that are about to.

(Tow hitch racks are not immune to stupidity or accident, but the incident rate is orders of magnitude less)

I like my bike. I put it on a tow hitch rack.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Go with the hitch.

Roof racks will decrease the mpg as the increased drag.
Additionally, you can't take a roof rack through a car wash as it will be ripped off your car.
Its tougher to remove the roof rack and put it back on when you really need it, vs just putting the support bar in the hitch.

Hitches are easier and don't really reduce the mpg on your vehicle.

Maybe its just me or my truck, but I once had a rear rack and ended up ruining a carbon wheel because of the debris being thrown from the tires on to the rear. I have a nissan xterra so maybe ground clearance was high enough?


Anyway, switched to a roof rack because of it and im not really worried of the mpg's since my truck doesn't dig mpg's. what's losing another 1-2 mpg's??

So you decide .. roof racks are a bit safer (if you get rear ended, at least your bikes will most likely be okay), but a pain to put up if you have a bad back or just plain lazy to lift. You will also lose some mpg's.

rear racks are easier to load, but more of a target for being totaled from a bump in the parking lot or kids messing with your sht. and debris tends to collect back there.

honestly, it's harder to steal or mess around with my bikes when its up high .. my rack is mounted on a loadwarrior basket which is mounted on my X. Kinda daunting just to climb it. Add to the fact that's it's lifted. haha ..

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New Jersey's Finest

That was all very logical and made sense. It didn't have any humour in it at all. My post, that you replied to , was factual AND funny.

Please re-post and this time inject some funny. We all need more funny! LOL

(seriously, give it a try. at least add your favourite joke. My favourite joke?
"Two guys walked into a bar........you'd figure the second guy would have seen it!")

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

I bought a roof rack for my bikes ages ago but would far prefer a hitch rack now. I bought it before the modern wheel-in-tray hitch mounted racks came out and the hitch racks at the time were all top-tube clamping swingers. These days I carry my bikes in the vehicle (hell - that's why I bought the car I did) but if I ever foresee a need for carrying them outside of the car regularly, I'll get a hitch installed and then pick up one of the wheel-in-tray models.

The hitch is kind of useless for carrying my kayak though... :p

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

It seems as though most people prefer a rear hitch. The issue for me is that I will have to have one welded onto the back of my car and then get something like:
http://www.yakima.com/...23/doubledown-2.aspx

No, you don't want one of those. You want one of these: http://www.yakima.com/racks/bike-racks/product/8002433/holdup-(2-receivers-only).aspx

If you aren't stuck on Yakima (great racks, but pricey) there are these as well:
http://www.saris.com/...3-thelma-3-bike.aspx
or
http://www.saris.com/p-303-cycleon.aspx

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

I have a roof rack and don't really have any issues with it in and of itself...but with my bike on top of my car, it is vulnerable to rocks getting thrown up and my fork is now pitted as a result (hopefully not damaged; it's carbon fiber) i need to get a bike bra (or a trunk rack). just something to consider.

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Hungry for tri!

Somewhere (ok, I dug for it, it's here) there were rules for
roof racks.

The one I remember is:

Your automatic garage door opener goes in your saddle bag or bike bag ALWAYS. Never reachable from the drivers seat when you get home at 2:30am.

-Jot

I really hate the thelma. Behind a car it is not very good.

Get a thule that clamps onto the frame or wheels. Yakima is also acceptable. Saris makes one but it isn't as adjustable. All of them are heavy but I agree with other posters: hitch mount is the way to go.

DO NOT GET A HANGING RACK.

Rear Hitch, no brainer... take off the blinders bra, anybody even considering a roll over? Next question??

Actually the logic is who is the bigger idiot? Me or the person behind me?

I've been rear ended 3 times with bikes on the roof over 20 years and never driven one off the roof. Face it, people that you think you're a lot smarter than like semi and delivery vehicle drivers are able to remember what how tall their vehicle is. If you can't, you failed that online IQ test.

I just put my Cervelo on my roof rack and get better mileage than without. ;)

Seriously though, I wouldn't automatically assume that bikes mounted on hitch racks are more aero than bikes mounted on the roof. Depending on the particular vehicle and the air flow, the bikes on the hitch rack could be causing some major turbulence and drag on the car. The analogy would be rear-mounted water bottles on a tri bike, which 'appear' to be shielded from the airflow, but in fact can cause major drag increases.

If you are using a car wash that touches your car (e.g. could rip the roof rack off), you probably don't like the paint job on your car that much. Touchless is the way to go.

But I do find that I don't take the roof rack off much, so there is a minor fuel econony hit all the time when driving around, not just when I have a bike up there.

Rik

What kind of car would require you to weld one? I am pretty sure that HiddenHitch makes one for practically every car out there.

Why the hate for the Thelma? Serious question, as I am (was?) within days of buying one to use with a small SUV (Subaru Forester).

I've been using the hitch mounted rack for several years. This is the latest version of it from Performance bike: http://www.performancebike.com/...1409_-1_20000__22000

It is an easy on/off.

If I get to the point that I need it, I might consider something like this: http://trisports.com/...t-sport-trailer.html
I know it isn't what you are looking for, but depending on family size and travel plans a small trailer like this could make sense.

I have a Yakima roof rack on my Subaru. It's easy to put on/take off the bars and mounts to the existing mounting points. I didn't have a factory rack so I got the whole system. Only drawback is the bug splats on the bike. I'll try to get a 'bra' for it.

x 2!

I have a roof mount on my Pathfinder and still plan to get a hitch installed so I can run a tray-style hitch rack. I do NOT want to mess with pulling wheels off and I'm sick and tired of hoisting bikes up on the roof.
I'll keep the roof trays for occassions when I've got 3 or 4 bikes with me.

+1

I bought a roof rack for my bikes ages ago but would far prefer a hitch rack now. I bought it before the modern wheel-in-tray hitch mounted racks came out and the hitch racks at the time were all top-tube clamping swingers. These days I carry my bikes in the vehicle (hell - that's why I bought the car I did) but if I ever foresee a need for carrying them outside of the car regularly, I'll get a hitch installed and then pick up one of the wheel-in-tray models.

The hitch is kind of useless for carrying my kayak though... :p

I am in the same situation as Khai. I invested in a Yakima roof rack years ago and it's worked wonderfully for 10+ years. Never any problems. At the time, the rear-mount wheel-in-tray models did not exist. If I was buying something now, I would seriously consider a wheel-in-tray rear mount. The only down-side to this for us would be that we would not be able to expand the car storage space as easily (we have a small sedan) with a roof box or putting skis or other things on the roof when needed. The solution, would be to buy a bigger vehicle - which would be fine for those times that we need it, but 80% of the time, I am driving the car alone and we don't need that extra space and that would be very costly.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I have both, for different vehicles... my advice goes like this:

Smaller passenger car (Honda sedan in my case) = roof rack. Not so high for lifting bike on/off (and will clear drive-through food windows), can use rack bars for other stuff besides bikes (kayak, storage boxes, etc), aft undercarriage may not accomodate receiver hitch mount or need to buy something additional to install (my dad had to get a custom fab for his Subaru to fit a 2" rather than a stock 1-1/4"), and low ground clearance for coming in/out of driveways, etc (i've seen them drag on curb cuts before). Hitch rack could also be a PITA for hatchback/trunk access, although that's moot in my case.

Bigger truck/SUV (Toyota pickup in my case) = hitch rack. Already have/want receiver mount for towing shit anyway, roof height is too high for easy on/off (or food drive-through windows), better ground clearance to keep bikes from dragging on curb cuts & sloped driveways, don't need the rack to haul cargo along w/ bikes since it can all go in pickup bed.

The mileage issue on a roof rack is true, but nowhere near enough to swing the debate. As for driving it into the garage, I've done it and of course it sucked, BUT... I've also had/seen bumpers clipped in parking lots and shit like that which a roof rack would avoid... at least the roof/garage crunch I can blame/control myself... rear rack I'm trusting every other jackass out there not to hit me.